The Boys from Biloxi

This chapter reveals the relationship between Lance and Biloxi’s corrupt law enforcement. Every month, Lance and Nevin meet with Sheriff Albert “Fats” Bowman and his deputy, Rudd Kilgore, at a seafood restaurant, Baricev’s, to exchange information. When an out-of-towner, Ginger Redfield, opens a new bar on The Strip, Fats and Rudd investigate—and give Lance information. Fats and Rudd also visit Ginger and tell her that she owes them $1,000 a month for “protection,” revealing how they profit from the club owners and crime bosses.

Jesse’s rising legal career is on the rise. He starts working as an associate in a local law firm and establishes a reputation for being an upstanding, moral man and lawyer. Some concerned locals in Biloxi approach Jesse about running for district attorney. They believe that he could be the aggressive DA they need to “clean up the Coast” (61). Driving this desire for change is a new vice that’s entered Biloxi—drugs. Jesse is reluctant: “Jesse had no interest in jeopardizing the safety of his family […] But once planted, the idea would not go away” (62)